


The Truth Shall Set You Free

by LadyKayura



Category: Lucifer (TV)
Genre: Canon Rewrite, F/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-04-26
Updated: 2020-08-09
Packaged: 2021-03-02 04:06:48
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 10,812
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23858797
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LadyKayura/pseuds/LadyKayura
Summary: A rewrite of 3x20 on. What if in his exhausted state, Lucifer accidentally exposed himself to Chloe?
Relationships: Chloe Decker & Lucifer Morningstar, Chloe Decker/Lucifer Morningstar, Chloe Decker/Marcus Pierce
Comments: 10
Kudos: 107





	1. Chapter One

"This is not because I am tired!"

She knew he would take what she was saying the wrong way- Lucifer almost always did. But Chloe was coming to the end of her rope. All of his talk about his father being "God" and angels and demons... Now her boyfriend was becoming part of his delusions? She couldn’t do it anymore.

Not when it was so clearly hurting him.

Not when it was taking his sleep and sanity from him.

Especially with them searching for a murderer. A steadying breath gave her time to calm before attempting to talk with him again. _'Deal with the sleep issue. Then try tackling his Bible delusion.'_ Before Chloe could redirect them back to his sleeping pattern, a flurry of white flared behind her partner's back.

The brilliant white wings now framing Lucifer's body rendered Chloe speechless.

_'My partner is an angel.'_

An actual honest-to-God Angel. Which meant God was real. God was real, had created angels and later threw his son- Lucifer- down into Hell. The Fallen One. The Devil. The Devil has been her partner for the past three years.

' _And I didn't believe him.'_

His continued rant sounded as though one or both of them had been plunged underwater. "Do I have these because I am tired? I damn well think not," was about all she could make out _._

_'Why did I not believe him again?'_

Lucifer waited for her to respond before what he had done registered and shock took him as well. His wings- _'Didn't he say that he cut them off?'_ \- tucked back to where ever they had were usually. _'Where do they go when not here?'_ Thoughts kept whirling through her head. A multitude of questions...and realizations and....and.... _'Why hadn't she believed him?'_ Her partner- _'was he still going to be her partner?'_ \- did not seem inclined to wait for her mind to steady itself before bolting out of the room towards the parking garage. Her legs refused to cooperate in her plan to follow after him at the moment.

Her partner was the Devil. Had been telling her for the entire time she has known him. _‘And you had listened to him exactly how many times? Zero.’_ She had noticed something off about him. Had even set up her own private investigation into those weird occurrences. Had all the answers spelled out for her by the Devil himself, and what had she done with it? Nothing. _'What kind of detective am I?'_

The kind skilled enough to know that Lucifer was the tip of the philosophical iceberg. _'Not saying much. Even an idiot could figure that out.'_

Every theological ‘fantasy’ was real. Well, maybe.

She stumbled ever so slightly on the way to her desk. Luckily, Trixie was distracted with whatever she had found on the computer to notice the daze. She grinned as Chloe pulled a chair up next to her, "Hey Mommy? Did you know that if you are ever mean to me I can just hire a new replacement for you?" It took a moment for her daughter's words to register. That acting service.. She had completely forgotten about that crazy goose chase Lucifer sent them on.

Now her daughter was talking about how she could buy a new mom with it. _'Not even here and Lucifer's making things crazy.'_

A calm pierced through Chloe's addled state as her daughter's mischievous statement broke through, the normalcy providing a lifeline. This, she could handle.

This was their normal.

This was their life. Her life. Her daughter finding ways to get into trouble. This Chloe could handle. "Oh, yeah? How are you planning to pay for it?" Her little monkey didn’t miss a beat in teasing back. "I'll use your credit card. I am pretty good at your signature, you know?"

She gave a deep laugh, "Oh, I don't doubt that." She appraised her daughter and all they had both been through recently. ' _We both need an old-fashioned movie night. Not like Trix will be against it._ ' "How about we get pizza and ice cream on the way home tonight?"

Trixie danced at the suggestion of junk food when Marcus passed by them both, mouthing a greeting to her on his way to his office. Looking between her mother and the man walking away with interest, Trixie said, "He seems nice." Chloe's became wistful at her Monkey's observation, "He is nice."

' _And normal. Glad to know at least one of the guys I have had feelings for recently is.'_ Right now, a bit more normal in her life felt like exactly what she needed.

What her daughter needed.

Keeping Marcus so separate from Trixie because of their new relationship seemed so trivial now.

Chloe drummed her hands a bit "You know Monkey, since Daddy, I haven't really dated anyone." She thought back to the attempt she and Lucifer had given to a relationship. _'I scared the Devil with the idea of commitment. No, can not handle that thought right now.'_ "Seriously, anyway. And Marcus and I have been spending a lot of time together lately." She twisted, looking head on at her little girl and leaned an elbow on her desk. "But I want to make sure that this is something you are okay with before we go any further. Because if he doesn't work for you, then there is no way he is going to work for me."

Chloe held her breath as Trixie looked between her mother and the lieutenant's office. Leaning in she asked conspiratorially, "Is he the reason you have been so happy lately?"

Mimicking her daughter's serious stance and tone, Chloe nodded. "I think so, Monkey."

"Do you think he likes chocolate cake?"

"I don't know. We could go ask him?"

Hopping down, the two girls walked over to Marcus' office without a knock before entering. He looked up from his paperwork at their interruption. Chloe did her best to diffuse the silence. "Hey."

Confused amusement played on his face, leaving her smiling. "Hey, what brings you two here?"

Trixie answered before her mother could, standing close to his desk and folding her arms across one other as she considered him. "We have a pretty important question to ask you." Marcus cocked his head and gave a mock-imposing stare, his smile kept it from being too intimidating for the young girl. "What question would that be?"

Trixie kept smiling and said, "Whether or not you like chocolate cake." He glanced up at Chloe quickly, thrown.

She gave her boyfriend a hopeful look and explained. "We are going to be getting pizza tonight after Trixie comes back from a friend's party and..." A couple of steps forward “...we thought that you might like to join us." Looking between the mother and daughter, one happily curious and the other nervously hopeful. Marcus gave a soft smile.

"I'll bring dessert."

Hashing out a time so that they could pick up Trixie as well as the pizza, the girls went and grab their things to begin their afternoon plans. Reaching to shut down her computer, Chloe stopped short and focused on the agency's photo. _'There is something there. What is there?'_ Finally her eyes settled on one of the men and she gasped, "Oh my go...sh. Jeremy Bell." Trixie looked at her, backpack now secure on her shoulders. "Who is that, Mommy?"

"Hold for one more minute, okay babe?" She put in a call for an arrest warrant while Trixie sat patiently.

Chloe couldn’t say all was right with her world, but at least she got herself onto a safe ledge before climbing the mountain of information before her.

************************************************************

Jeremy Bell certainly was helpful.

Not in the way Lucifer assumed he would be, but he appreciated the idea Jeremy provided before the uniformed officers came to arrest the murderous actor. _'The detective must have figured it out. That's something. Her mind must not have been damaged too badly then. '_

Even if her sanity was still intact, assisting LAPD's finest was most likely a thing of his past. Redecorating could be a good distraction for a time.. His marble floors could use it, if the frigid nature was a constant. It may not be, he could concede that. It could just be he was not used to kneeling on his living room floor. His bed was a different story, for a much more enjoyable purpose, but needs must.

_'Newfound clarification provided by criminals does wonders for one's motivation.'_

Lucifer now knew what he needed to do. He had a task and he would complete it. His Detective needed to know that he was not the only monster in her midst.

_'Not yours. You gave her up.'_

He buried that thought, it was of no use to him. He may be a monster, but he was hardly the only one in her life. At least he had the decency to state it outright, if not put it on display before now.

_'Until Cain had....'_

A frustrated voice filled his penthouse. One he was used to ignoring. "What are you doing?" Not that Mazikeen's question helped him to focus.

He clambered back up to his feet, the mantle becoming the next victim of his search. He needed to find it. It was the only proof he had. The Detective needed proof. Which was not currently located above his fireplace. He turned to one of his bookshelves with an infernal growl.

"I need to find it, Maze."

Her scoff reverberated off the walls. "What? Your self-respect?"

It was his turn to scoff as he combed the shelves it might have been stashed. A bit of someone's stash in the process. ‘ _I wonder who brought that.’_ The curiosity came and left on a breeze.

_'More important things to worry about right now. Like how could Maze not know? Its obvious, isn't it?'_

"The angel figurine. It's here somewhere and with it, I can prove to the Detective that Pierce isn't who she believes him to be."

The demon stopped at the bar, mid-reach for a glass. Her next words were more tentative than he had ever heard her.

"What?"

Huffing, he threw his arms out as he continued his search of his living room. This time exploring the end table closest to his balcony, he explained as though to a child.

"I figured it out, haven't I? Pierce has been gas-lighting me. Tricking me into believing I have been doing good deeds in my sleep by Dad's hand. Why would he do that?"

He finally turned to face her, frenetic energy wafting off of him as he pointed towards her. Willing her to grasp the plan he had uncovered.

"To keep me away from the Detective as he pursues her. He's probably back to the insanity that she's the key to breaking his curse."

Bending, he checked underneath the couch and came across a box. "I tried to warn her, but she wouldn't listen, would she? Never does when it comes to the truth. And then…”

Lucifer’s fingers fumbled along the clasps holding the box closed on him. “...doesn't matter. Not the point now. Why wouldn't the Detective listen? Because the detective always needs proof. Cold-hard evidence. And what better evidence than the trinket he used to... to... to deceive me! Ha-ha!"

As he raised the grotesquely saccharine figurine up to inspect it, Maze rushed over to him, waves of palpable concern rolling off her as she helped him up. "Wait. Hold on. Now, if you want Chloe to believe any of this, you have to make sure to do it right."

She drew him up from where he had found his prize, his muscles taking her guidance far more easily than he had planned. He clutched the little statue in a vice grip as he followed his former bodyguard to one of his chairs. She continued, "Take it to Ellen. Have her do her lab thingy with it." Lucifer nodded at her suggestion, flopping into the chair she indicated.

_'Chloe could ignore what he says, but there is no possibility of her denying what Miss Lopez finds.'_

He nodded again in a daze with his goal accomplished. "Yes. Yes, you're right."

She rounded his chair, pouring a few fingers of whiskey from his bar for each of them. "First, tell me everything. Don't leave a single thing out."

Lucifer dug the heels of his hands into his eyes and groaned. The week's exertions finally crashed done around him. Exhaustion threatening to drown him. "Everything's all gone to Hell. And it's so hard to put it all together in my mind. I- I mean, you wouldn't understand this, Maze. I doubt the Detective will even see me after this.”

He took the offered tumbler and said, “Thank you. That's very kind of you."

The liquid in his glass stilled as he considered the actions of his little demon. The inner workings of his mind did its best to plod through what had just occurred.

_'When did thinking become so difficult?'_

Maze stood in front of him, interested concern painted across her face.

"...Which you is not like you at all. Why are you even here?" Lucifer stared warily at his demon, comprehension threatening to dawn on him.

"You're helping him."

Her giggle almost gave Lucifer hope.

Hope that his initial assumption was wrong.

One moment of hope.

That was all he had before it was ripped from him.

Her concern dissolved into incredulous mockery. Her next words stabbed straight through his soul. "Helping him? It was my idea." Stalking behind him, Maze kept his shocked face in her line of sight as long as possible. Savored his apprehension. "After Pierce told me about the old lady who thought she saw an angel, that's when it all came together."

Her explanation droned on as a wave of nausea drifted over him. His current state was due to his oldest friend. His accidental reveal...

"Why would you do this to me, Mazikeen?"

This strand of his usual self nearly slipped away until her face hardened steeled his resolve. The Lord of Hell clawed its way up from the haze of his mind.

_'No weakness, she'll jump at it.'_

"Because I know the only thing that matters to you more than Chloe. And that’s yourself."

She kept speaking, but he focused on the grip she had taken of his wrists. A much sharper focus than that of his figurine search. He was missing something.

Something important about their plan.

The plan to drive a wedge between the Detective and himself.

' _Well, mission accomplished, Mazikeen. She would not stay within the same country as me now.'_

Driving a wedge between them... to get Cain close to Chloe.

"You're stalling me, aren't you?" They want the Detective separate from him. Vulnerable.

He certainly helped them with their cause, didn't he?

Fury surged through him as he gripped her neck in a near bone-crushing hold, dragging her up with him to his full height as he rose. He savored her renewed fear. The infernal growl of Hell crept into his tone as Lucifer said, "You will be dealt with, Mazikeen. Make no mistake on that. But right now, I need to get to the Detective."

Lucifer didn't spare a glance at where ever he had thrown the betrayer. He barely registered the cracking of stone and glass as he stepped into his elevator.

************************************************************

_'Not worth it.'_

How does she keep doing this to herself? Chloe dissected and reexamined everything thrown at her in the past few hours on her way to pick up Trixie and she has come to a conclusion.

The only answer she can see that fits all the information with the people involved.

She is massively unobservant.

She should count herself lucky she had never been fired for screwing up a case.

_‘Of course, you have been screwing your boss so there's that....'_

Wincing at her own mind's singsong tone, she could not escape the truth of that fact. What in the hell had she been thinking? ‘It seemed like a good idea,’ was such a poor excuse her stomach turned at the thought.

She had to pull over so often with waves of nausea she was a few minutes late to Trixie's friend's house. Trixie had spent the entire drive to the pizza place worrying at her mother's silence. She waited until their car was parked in the lot before trying to get Chloe's attention.

"Mom, where is Mr. Marcus? I thought you guys were coming together." Chloe let herself take a steadying breath before answering her daughter.

Then another breath.

On the third, she gathered herself enough to twist towards the back seat with a watery smile. "Baby, things have changed there, I guess. It's just going to be you and me." Trixie rallied at the news, shooting her a reassuring smile as she said, "That's okay. We can try again another weekend, right?"

Fingers tapping against the passenger seat, Chloe could only her head. "No, monkey. I don't think there is going to be another weekend. At least not with him."

The little girl pushed at her seat belt but not unlatching it. "Not as nice as he seemed, huh?"

"Seems not, no. I'm sorry, babe. I should have seen something coming." ‘ _I should have seen a lot coming.’_

"...Was...was it because he was meeting me?"

Her chest tighten at her daughter’s quiet question. "Oh, sweetie, no. No, I think... sometimes people are at different places at different times and I just did not see that. I'm sorry that you got roped into it, but no. It wasn't because of you." Trixie took her attention away from the buckle. She said in a firm voice, "We keep each other through it all and that's what matters, right?"

Chloe laughed at her words being thrown back at her from early on in 'The Split' between her and Dan. Putting as much cheer into her voice as she could handle at the moment, Chloe began work on her own buckle. "Right. I am ready to chow down on some pizza and ignore the world with some movies. What do you say?"

Chloe led her daughter into the pizza shop, sitting down when it turned out that she had not actually called to place their order. After spending their wait learning all the party gossip Trixie had for her, she had her daughter settled in the car before giving her the job of ‘Pizza Protector’ on their way home. The ride back to the apartment was quiet once again, though not quite as heavy as it was before.

Sending Trixie off to pack for time at Dan's tomorrow before they settled in, Chloe went to steal her first piece of pepperoni and mushroom when she noticed the six pack and chocolate cake that had been left from earlier.

_'Not worth it.'_

The coldness of the counter top was harsh on her palms as Chloe braced herself fighting to keep breathing normally. _'Didn't realize he left those behind, did you? Hmmm... wonder what else you have missed that was right in front of you?'_ Unbidden air forced itself from her lungs at the mockery running through her mind.

_‘Just one more tally mark, Decker. Maybe the unis have been keeping their own scorre waiting for you to catch up._ ’ She kept a steady count up and down as she regulated her breathing, but still couldn't find enough balance to lift her palms from the stone beneath them. Her body kept tilting to the side on her. _'No, not tilting. There’s no pressure with tilting.'_ Brow furrowed, Chloe looked down at Trixie pulling, arms tight around her waist.

Relaxing into her daughter's hold, Chloe allowed her to lead them both over onto their couch. Once she was sitting, Trixie climbed up into her lap and the two girls curled into each other as Chloe said, "Seems like our night isn't going like either of us planned, huh baby?" Tightening her hug, Trixie comforted her mother. "Cold pizza is better anyway."

Time passed by them, Chloe focusing on this small little being she was somehow in charge of. Running her hands over the curls, her muscles released the tension built up over the past few hours leaving her unbearably tired. If only she could get her mind as wonderfully still as her body.

_'How can you protect her? You can't even see the truth in front of you every day.'_

_'No one will ever stay with you. Why would they bother jumping through your hoops?'_

_'You’re just daddy's little girl riding his coattails and failing at that so badly you need the Devil to help you.'_

After a time, Trixie slid out of her grasp with little to no resistance. Chloe pulled her legs up to fill the now vacant space. Her thoughts held her captive until familiar brown eyes filled her vision.

"Lucifer?"

A small self-deprecating smile grew on her partner's face. "I am very sorry for not keeping my distance from you and your offspring, Detective. I would have waited until you called, but I needed to see you. Make sure you were all right."

_'Make sure you were all right. He even knew about Marcus.'_ That thought she could not bear. Too close to lying. ‘ _What lie? He has been trying to warn you from the beginning.’_

"I found out that... I heard... my concern about not sleeping seems not to be of my father's design. And a far more troubling than just to make me perform good deeds." Of course Lucifer would know Marcus was trouble. _‘And you thought his warnings were only him being jealous. Ego catching up with you?'_

She joined him on the floor wrapping her arms underneath his jacket. He held his arms out above her which allowed Trixie an opportunity to slide herself next to the two adults and latch onto them both. The slight man, ethereal being, whatever he actually was, finally settled into the embrace they cocooned him in. Arms draped around her shoulders, his breath catching as her arms tighten around his waist.

Their positioning was not at all comfortable, but none of the three wanted to break the spell that had woven itself around them. Lucifer's hand drifted up into Chloe's hair as her breathing began evening out. Her head sank into his collarbone as his fingers gently combed through her ponytail. Once again, she drew what strength she could from him in a difficult situation. _'Who knew that Satan could be such a steadying presence?'_

She hid her hysterical giggle in the laughter Trixie's stomach rumbling caused. Chloe leaned onto Lucifer as she swept a bit of hair away from her daughter's face. "I bet our pizza is cool enough to be perfect now, Monkey. Its early enough we still can still do movie night too." Standing from the awkward crouch she had kept herself in, she flinched a bit at the speed Lucifer rose and backed away from her. Trixie ignored them both in favor of getting to the pizza first for ‘the best slices.’

"Right. I intruded on your evening. I should have realized. I was worried that... Well, it doesn't matter at the moment. But detective, I know I-" He cut himself off, glancing into the kitchen after the distracted girl and sighed. "I know that I interrupted our conversation earlier and if things were different, I would have waited to have it at all. But you need to know that Cain...Marcus is..." He frowned in thought, oblivious to Chloe holding her breath, terror seizing her lungs. terror. An age later he admitted to them both, "I don't actually know what he is planning, but you need to understand that he is not someone worthy of your trust."

_'He didn't know. Still doesn't.'_ The relief at Lucifer being as in the dark as she was about Marcus- _'He called him Cain. Cain and Abel. You were dating the world's first murderer.'-_ She could have collapsed to the floor. She watched him head to the kitchen and frowned as his gait took him towards the front door.

"I just needed you to know that, Detective. I'll stop whatever he is planning, I promise you that. I am sorry once again that I intruded upon your time and space. "

"Where are you going?" Lucifer froze with his hand on the doorknob, blinking a few times as her question registered in his mind. His eyes went from Trixie who was choosing the night’s movie once she had her food, back to Chloe searching for the right response. Tilting his head in askance he answered her question with his own, "Leaving you to your ‘movie night’?"

She could only shake her head at him. "Lucifer, you are exhausted. There is no way I am letting you drive home- it's not safe." She approached him slowly to keep his nerves stable , relieved he let her pull him back towards the kitchen. "We have plenty of pizza. You can sleep during any movie we end up putting on. And as far as being careful around Ma-Pierce." She drew her next breath in. _'Five count in...five count out.'_ "That is... that is no longer an issue. Outside of work, at least."

Dropping is his hand to pile a few pizza slices onto her plate, the pain and shock from earlier was still there. But it felt much easier to just let it flow over her and not allow it to be trapped inside her.

"What?" A shiver ran over her at the stillness in his quiet tone. It reminded her of the times he had their suspect cornered. In that moment, it made perfect sense to her that this man could keep the souls damned to Hell in line. _'And you have missed every sign.'_ He waited for her to elaborate, poised to do whatever she needs of him.

"Yeah…we’re done.” Okay, so telling him was one thing, giving him the details was too much. She did not need him knowing how yet another guy walked away from her. She passed him a plate in the hopes her ‘travesty of a pizza’ would distract him.

“…That makes no sense. Why would he do that?” _‘Why would I get any luck now?’_

“I don’t know how to answer that, Lucifer. It’s not like guys give a rundown of the issues before they walked away.”

Confusion was replaced with a touch of fear on her partner's face. She waited as he found what he wanted to say. “On the act of walking away… why aren’t you?”

“What?”

He watched her as though she was something to be feared. “Chloe… you do… sorry, did I imagine… do you remember seeing…?” She would have loved to laugh at his utter lack of speaking skills in his delirious state, but he was also trying to hedge around the truth and she couldn’t let him keep doing that. _‘_

_'No more secrets.’_

“No, you didn’t imagine that. Still doesn’t explain why you think I should be walking away.”

He rubbed at his eyes and observed her as he pinched the bridge of his nose. He parroted back, “You don’t see why you should be walking away from the Devil?”

“I don’t see why I should be walking away from my partner. Are you going to suddenly become completely different?? Are you... I don’t know... like going to try to eat my daughter or something?”

The joke spilled out of her before she had thought about it, so much like what she and he had been like before. It felt good to laugh at his face scrunched in disgust. “What a revolting thought. Why on Earth would I want a child anywhere near my mouth? They are covered in filth even when they are clean.” His disgust didn’t stop him from taking a few slices for himself. Though Chloe noticed he kept the look of distaste as he moved to the box below her favorite.

He sighed as he once again back away from her, “You are only so calm because it was these damnable wings. I will-”

“Lucifer.”

The command in her tone pulled him up short in his retreat. Watching his glazed expression as he clearly tried to understand what he had done wrong, Chloe hurried to say, “We are going to talk about... everything. I want to talk to you about it. But you have been keeping yourself from sleep for the better part of a week. Which is not a good way to discuss anything. I have had a lot thrown at me in just the past few hours, not to mention I am a little overloaded right now. Adding more sounds like a huge mistake. So here is our plan:” Making sure she still had his full attention, Chloe ticked their evening tasks off one by one.

“We are eating. We are watching some goofy movie that we are most likely going to fall asleep during. We will wake up when we wake up and we will talk in the morning once we have both had some sleep and a bit more time to process.” Trixie interrupted before Lucifer could open his mouth, having overheard her mother tell him that he was staying.

"Have you ever made a pillow fort before, Lucifer?"

His blank stare turned towards the living room as he asked,"What on earth is a ‘pillow fort’?”"

"Mom, this is an emergency." The seriousness in her daughter's statement kept Chloe's smirk from getting too wide at the announcement. "Lucifer has. Never. Built. A Pillow fort." She ran past both of the adults to her room and dragged all her extra sheets and blankets out to the living room floor. Exasperated at their stillness, Trixie pointed to her mother and said "we need to go grab every blanket we can. This will be the comfy-iest fort we ever made!" Turning her finger over to Lucifer, "Come on, Lucifer I need you to hang these sheets exactly like I tell you to. You won't even need Mommy's stool, so it'll be easy."

They spent the rest of the night building Lucifer's- ‘ _The Devil’s_ ’- very first pillow fort for their movie night. He seemed rather intrigued once Trixie explained the setup and what they would end up with- "So, its a bit like building a nest inside your own house?" "Yeah, sometimes its nice to have a smaller, comfy space. Keeps the world out." Between the wine she had poured while gathering blankets, the coziness of their little tent, and the sheer exhaustion her whirlwind afternoon brought on, Chloe let herself be carried off to sleep before the first musical number.

**********************************

Having rushed from Chloe’s street in an attempt to put as much distance between them as possible, Cain poured himself a third glass of his favorite whiskey before sitting down on his sofa.

‘ _Why? Why go soft-hearted now? Isn’t it worth it?_ ’

Final, absolute death. And end to his torture. Seeing humanity continue on while he was never able to join his fellow humans lives.

‘ _Isn’t that worth upsetting one woman?_ ’

No. Not anymore.

He remembered the joy on Chloe's face at her daughter's question,. He was going to devastate her if he kept with the plan. He wouldn't be the cause of the pain of the one person that he had allowed himself to grow attached to in the past six thousand years.

Hearing about the bar owner's death had been bad enough. And he had intentionally kept her at bay. Chloe loved with her own being, it's the only way she knows how from what he could tell. Getting her to love him and then to die on her...

Cain absently rubbed at his bicep in thought and froze. Racing to his bathroom, he stripped off his shirt along the way and took in his arm in the mirror.

His smooth arm.

Gone.

Well, his guess had been right. Chloe's love was the key to his curse.

He should have been elated. Ecstatic. He finally had exactly what he wanted. He had been too late. She already had feelings for him. Again, something that should have brought joy only brought heartache.

Sometimes God truly was a bastard.


	2. Chapter Two

##  **Chapter Two**

His penthouse felt both too closed off and far too open after the night he had just spent at the Decker's apartment, the dark of his penthouse absorbed any light coming through from the L.A streets below. The overturned lounge chairs, broken balcony doors, and cracked marble flooring carved a path that he could only assume he threw Maze across. He could feel her presence still on Earth so he knew she had not been thrown clear of the building.

_'Or that demon is far more resilient than even I know.'_

His home now felt bizarre when compared to how he had spent his night. The amount of comfort being tucked under a hung sheet could provide was extraordinary. It was not the same, but it reminded Lucifer of his time with his siblings when they would build nests in the clouds to relax into. While he knew he did not sleep long enough, he slept remarkably well on the pillow-laden floor that Beatrice insisted upon. The detective seemed to have found herself in a less desirable spot when he left however. _'Perhaps I should arrange for more supportive pillows to arrive at their house if the Detective is agreeable.'_

Looking at the glass shards blasted out along the stone and lounge furniture over his home, Lucifer was already making a note to call the repair shop once again. His frequent use of them was getting a bit ridiculous but he knew that they would enjoy the tips he would provide for their quick and efficient work.

_'It feels good to get something repaired.'_ Hopefully, the small present he left for his overstep last night would help when she awoke, but the detective needed more space than she most likely realized before they discussed anything, if they ever did....

He briefly considered going to have a... chat... with Pierce about his disregard for the Detective. _'Nothing good was going to come from Pierce pursuing her, but to throw her away as though she meant nothing?'_ He had a hard time not driving over to gut the man just for the look he had put on her face last night.

If he had been more direct with her perhaps he could have kept her from this. _‘They had almost had something, hadn't they?’_ Until his deal with Candy, and even after they had begun to move a bit more towards....

_‘No, you didn’t.’_ He had to forcibly remind himself that what they had was a parody of romance his Father had set up to keep him in line. It just would have ended worse when she realized what he was. Realized she had lo-been close to the King of Hell.

Realized she was created for him.

_‘Who would want the Abomination forced into their lives?’_

He kept that thought to remind himself of his place in this world- _'None'-_ as he crawled into his large bed.

Before he fell back into sleep, he picked up his phone to text for a quick text.

**_*I have a favor to ask of you, Doctor. Chloe found out yesterday afternoon and the rest of the day was not exactly pleasant. I suggested she speak with you along with my providing her time to process..*_ **

Settling the Detective with the good doctor helped ease his mind somewhat. If he could not deal with said problems in person, he could help her receive whatever support she may end up needing.

Turning over, Lucifer stretched out in search of the siren song of sleep hoping to stay that way for a good long while.

_‘So long as I’m redecorating the living room, a few more pillows in here would be rather nice as well.’_

************************************************************

Chloe woke with a pounding headache and a slight ache in her hip that let her know she was definitely not in her bed. Rolling, she took in the sheets hanging above her with confusion before the memories of last night flooded into her.

Marcus broke up with her because she had 'made things too difficult.' She almost started crying at that first thought but decided anger suited her better. What had she made difficult? They had been together for less than a month. Their relationship had barely started without adding Trixie into the mix. That was somehow 'too hard' for him?

The worst part was that she couldn't help but wonder if it was her. Dan left because she wanted him to make more time for their family. Most recently, she managed to ask too much of Pierce within a month. And Lucifer....

The Devil.

She bolted upright searching for the ma... _'being...?'_ that had been strong armed into a pillow fort sleepover by her daughter. That sent a very concerning laugh on its way up her throat she just managed to stop. _‘Trixie has conned the Devil. Multiple times. And he keeps his end of their bargains every time.’_

Thought about their time together kept jumping through her mind as she scanned the little fort for him. The Devil has wanted Chloe in his bed since they met. The Devil had also respected her refusal every single time. And the idea of actually, properly dating her had scared the Devil so badly he ran off to Vegas and got married.

She drove away the thoughts about their almost relationship in favor of where he was since he wasn't currently sprawled across her living room floor at the moment. She made her way out of their nest to search the rest of her house for her partner.

_‘Is he still my partner? Why is he my partner in the first place? How had I missed something so big when it came to her partner? Breathe.’_

There was no sign of Lucifer, but the pizza from last night was cleared from the counter and it seemed a gift had taken its place. A note was attached to a bag of bagels sitting next to a few tubs of cream cheese and a rather large plate of fruit spread out along her island counter.

**'Dete- Chloe,**

**I know a discussion is in our near future, but I felt it might be best to allow you to start sorting through everything you learned, so I let myself out before you woke. I hope I didn't overstep, but I thought you and your spawn might enjoy something ready for breakfast. It is not an omelet, but it should still be delicious. In case you need to talk out all this upse- new information, give Dr. Martin a call. She knows and I think she could be very helpful to you.**

**Thank you for allowing me to rest in your home. It will always be appreciated.**

**Yours,**

**Lucifer**

Tears she had been fighting against for the past day finally fell as she read his short note. _'Of course he would leave before we could talk.'_ He probably took her not believing him for so long as a bad sign. Could she really be faulted though for missing signs that he was the literal Devil when almost everything he did went completely against what ‘everyone knew?'

_'No, no, Don't lie to yourself, Decker. It's so much worse than that. You ignored it.'_

She couldn't hide that from herself any longer. Anything she had noticed that was off with him, she had brushed off.

His physical strength.

His 'charms.'

His ability to open any lock.

The frankly obscene amount of alcohol he could consume at any given time and not go into liver failure. She didn't even want to think about how much he needed in terms of drugs to get the slightest high.

She had put two and two together and came up with negative fifty early on. She couldn't decide which was worse- the amount of evidence she blew past with Lucifer or the fact that she had begun an investigation and let it drop.

_'How much of your case rate had been because of Lucifer?'_

She had always assumed it was because they worked well as a team, but maybe more of it came from his ability to see through people than she thought. She hadn’t been a detective that long before he became her partner. While she and Dan would sometimes work together; they butted heads way too often for it to be productive on most cases.

She knew she was better at looking at all the angles than Dan, but did that actually mean she was good at her job? Dan had a tendency to stick to the most obvious and easiest scenario and go from there. How many times had she called it 'sloppy detective work' to Dan's face? Isn't that exactly what she did when it came to Lucifer?

"Mom?" Chloe snapped her head up and out of her hands ' _When had she started cradling her head?_ ' "Morning, Monkey!"

Trixie crawled out of their little fort and made a beeline for the large assortment of bagels. _'Lucifer really does not understand moderation at all.'_ Which reminded her of her failings- of course he wouldn't understand the concept of not needing two dozen bagels for two people. So. Many. Signs.

"Looks like you've got a lot of good options before Dad comes, huh?" Chloe plastered a distracted smile on and tried to focus on her daughter. She needs to hold it together, at least until Trixie went with Dan. _'There is no need for her to see her mother freaking out anymore than she already has.'_

Trixie shrugged as looked over their spread, "Lucifer always gets the best stuff. Its why **he** would never get scared off by our awesomeness." She couldn't be too surprised at the mention of Lucifer since he was the main reason for the pillow fort taking up her entire living room. The little girl finally picked out 'the best' bagel- Chloe couldn't figure out what flavor it was supposed to be but the smell reminded her of french toast- before looking around the apartment for him.

Not finding him in her line of sight, Trixie asked in a quiet tone, "Is Lucifer okay, Mom? He was looking really bad last night. He is always so..." She mimed smoothing her hair back and fixing her shirt while scrunching her mouth into a very satisfied smirk. Her game of charades ended as quickly as it began. "He didn't seem right. And I know you were freaking out even before last night happened."

Chloe sighed, why she thought she could keep anything from her little weasel she didn't even know anymore. "We... we're going through something right now, babe, I'm not going to lie to you. But it'll be okay."

Trixie didn't look convinced, so Chloe tried again. "Mommy just feels like she has been missed a lot of stuff that was right in front of her and it's kind of upsetting."

The calculating look Trixie had concerned her, but before Chloe could pry Trixie leaned in and whispered, "Does Lucifer have a different face like Maze? 'Cause he's the Devil?" Chloe almost let the hysterical laugh out this time but she covered her mouth to keep it contained, counting out her breaths again as she inhaled to get herself back under control.

_‘Your daughter is a better detective than you.’_ How had she not considered Maze in all this yet? "What makes you think Maze has a different face?"

"She showed it to me last Halloween. I mean..." Trixie waggled her head as she thought, "She didn't really show me. She had told me to turn around so that she could 'put on' her mask, but she didn't have anything with her and I only turned for two seconds! It was pretty easy. Not something a 'little brat' could figure out."

The little girl took a particularly vicious bite out of her bagel. Chloe winced at the hurt that still hung around her baby. "You ready to talk about it, babe?"

She almost thought Trixie’s shrug was going to be her answer. "What's to talk about? Maze doesn't like me, and was just hanging out with me because she was here. End of story." Chloe crouched down to meet her daughter's eyes as she stared at the floor. "That is not true." This she could help with. A little bit.

_‘Two friends out the outs isn't so bad to fix, is it?’_

Pretty standard parenting stuff if you ignore one of the friends being a demon. "You two have always been super close, Monkey. I think...Maze is hurting right now because of something other than us. You and I both know how well Maze deals with 'feelings.'"

Trixie answered blandly, "She doesn't."

Chloe quirked her lips and gave a nod. "Exactly. It doesn't make what she said about you all right, but I don’t think she actually meant what she said either."

Trixie returned to her attempt at burning a hole through the floor with her eyes. "She shouldn't say things that aren't true then." Chloe wrapped an arm around her after putting down her own bagel. "You're right. I won't tell you not to be upset with her- you just feel how you feel. But there might be more going on with her than we know." Trixie huffed and took second big, if a little less vicious, bite out of her bagel as Dan knocked on their door. Sending Trixie off with a second bagel, along with a few others including an everything bagel that Dan had been spying to go along with the spinach one he took, Chloe went back into their comforting little fort and laid back down on the pillows still strewn about. Lucifer was right. She needed to think.

She had been living with a demon for two years, and had not noticed.

She had been partners with the Devil for three, came very close to getting romantically involved with him, and had not noticed.

She had been ready to bring a guy to meet her daughter who not only was the World’s First Murderer™, but also had one foot out the door a month into their relationship, and she had. Not. Noticed.

_‘Am I seriously upset that Cain from the Bible dumped me?’_

She could feel her chest tighten and the room started to spin as her mind kept bringing her deeper into her own thoughts. She did her best to keep up the breathing exercises when she remembered Lucifer's note. He was right, it was time to call Linda. After three rings, she finally got an answer.

"Chloe, hi. What's going on?" At least she was good enough that she could hear the other woman trying to play it casual.

"Lucifer already called you."

"Texted. If you hadn't called me by noon I was coming over with wine. Should that still be my plan?" Chloe answered her quickly, "If you can make it earlier, that'd be fantastic."

"I'll see you in twenty."

It took her only fifteen which Chloe didn’t want to think about beyond the fact that Linda’s an amazing friend who did not so much as raise an eyebrow at the state of her living room. Simply settled herself on a few of the pillows, uncorked the pinot grigio she had brought and handed Chloe the bottle.. "Normally I would not condone the use of alcohol to get through stress, but this is definitely uncharted territory so I think some allowances can be made. " She set her own bottle of riesling down letting Chloe take a deep pull before asking, "So, where should we start?"

"How about whether or not I should even be in the job I have?"

Whatever Linda had been expecting, it wasn't that from the way her eyes widened, "What? You are a fantastic detective, Chloe. I know roughly what your case rate is-"

This time she let the laugh go. It was a humorless thing, and Chloe watched as her tone immediately set Linda on edge. "Linda," She turned herself to put all her focus on the doctor, "I have been partners with Lucifer for. Three. Years. Almost the entirety of my career as a detective. How did I not figure this out? Not to mention my roommate, the demon." Her friend winced slightly at the mention of Maze before plowing ahead to Lucifer. ' _File that away for later.'_ "I have known him just as long, Chloe. I went a year and a half trying to get inside his head to help him figure out his emotions and didn't believe him."

Chloe shook her head. "It's not the same. You see him... what is it, weekly? In the same, controlled environment each time? I was with him almost every day. Did you know I watched as he pushed someone through a glass wall about fifteen feet from where he was standing during one of our earliest cases? Not a,"

She mimed forcefully shoving something away with both hands.

"But a," This time she gave the air in front of her a more gentle one-handed quick push.

Linda kept listening, letting Chloe vent her concerns out to another person. The only other person, in fact, that could even start to appreciate what she was going through. "Sure, I started a file on him and all the odd things I found. You know what I did with it? Nothing. How can I claim to be any kind of detective if I let something that huge slide right past me." Chloe took another deep drink from her bottle and suddenly slammed her palm down on the floor next to her, eyes widening as another thought brought itself forward, "Does he actually have, like red skin? Or am I actually going crazy now and remembering things I saw that weren't actually real?"

Linda gaped at the sudden bang for a moment before composing herself enough to answer, "He does, or did. I am not sure what happened but it is gone now. According to him, his father stole it. But he has no proof or anything to back it up."

Chloe nodded, taking in the idea of God stealing the Devils’ face. ‘ _Hey, I didn’t have a panic attack. Go me.’_ She considered what she could remember Lucifer telling her about his father, thought about her opinions she had formed of the man- Being she supposed- that had cast out his son like that, and then proclaimed with the start of a wine-induced slur, "Wow, God is an asshole."

That had the therapist choking a bit to hear such casual blasphemy from her friend. "Oh my God, Chloe!"

Chloe shook her head, tipping off balance with the movement. "Nope. We need to find other things to say. Lucifer gets all weird when you say stuff like that and now its not just him being a weirdo."

Chloe took a long look at her friend and stated quietly, "God is real. Heaven is a real place and so is Hell." Setting her bottle down between her legs, Chloe let her head follow after as she tried to steady her breathing once again as that revelation washed over her. Linda's voice was quiet when she asked, "Chloe? Can you tell me what you are feeling right now?"

Chloe brought her head back up holding her clasped hands to her face, chin resting on her thumbs as she turned to Linda with tears in her eyes, "You know, I didn't realize how scared I was of there being nothing after our lives here until now. There will be something after this, Linda. We don't just stop."

Linda picked at one of the particularly pilled blankets within her reach as she pressed a little further, "And how do you feel about everything else? With Hell being real? And the Devil?"

"You are asking if I am scared of him. "

"I think it's important going forward to think about where you stand with him and if you are going to continue on or not. This is as a friend, by the way. No therapy right now, though I would be lying if I said my schooling hasn’t been helpful." Chloe chuckled, getting more of her footing underneath her as she talked with Linda.

She thought about who they were talking about, what she knew about him already. It was still awful to think about how little she actually knew, but she hadn't been lying to him last night. She was confident that what he had told her over the course of their friendship was true- he doesn't lie and she has had empirical evidence to that fact. _'Even if he does twist the truth for himself.'_ She considered the man she knew running Hell as he told her he did. Thinking about his descriptions of the place even outside of the actual punishment areas.

He hadn't just been running it, he had been forced to run it. For asking to be able to choose what he would and would not do. "What I want is to know exactly why God did that to his son."

She went on as Linda stared at her. "Lucifer....Lucifer doesn’t scare me. He could if he wanted to- I have seen what he can do to the people he thinks need to be punished.”

Realization dawned on her once again. "No wonder he hates how easy it is for criminals can get away with stuff. Seriously, how did I miss this?!"

"Chloe, you are a fantastic detective, you can't be blamed for not picking up on something like this."

"Its not 'picking up on' if you are told outright, is it? I mean Chr-crap, Linda! My eight year old daughter has been trying to convince me that he was who he says he is and figured out that we have been living with a demon a whole year before I did. Living. With. And I have got to tell you Linda, Maze being a demon makes a lot more sense to me than Lucifer being the Devil. With her bounty hunter skills and how she acts when we go bar-hopping, no excuse for me not to believe her.”

She took another drink of her wine and frowned at how light the bottle had gotten. _‘Should probably take a break for now.’_ Chloe leaned over and placed her drink on the end table just a bit out of reach before continuing her rant. “I mean, you want even more proof I am unobservant? I couldn’t even tell that my boyfriend was about to break up with me when I invited him over to meet my kid last night!"

"Pierce broke it off with you? Oh my Go- goodness,” Chloe appreciated Linda’s catch this time, “Ok, here is an actual doctor's order" Chloe watched as her company sat up as straight as she could on the pillows underneath her. "You have personal time saved up, right?"

She gave a nod. "A ton, I haven't felt the need to use it."

"Do you have any cases?"

"Last one was wrapped up last night."

"Right, so you are going to contact Mar-the lieutenant and tell him that you are taking this week off. You are going to relax and get your head on straight. That is so much to happen at once you need time to process."

"Yeah, you're right. I can't sort all this out and try to be working on police cases at the same time." She fumbled around for her phone and sent a quick text saying exactly what Linda 'prescribed.' “I'll browse some differ careers while I'm at it."

Linda shook her head and said, "Before you go changing professions over this, here's my working theory on how we...overlooked everything since I've learned the truth. Because while yes, you may have had more opportunities to see him 'in action,' I also let a lot of what was happening slide past my radar. I think we as humans seem to have some sort of....shield against this divine stuff. Kind of like how you can see something out of the corner of your eye and when you are walking you still run into it, you know?"

Chloe nodded but countered, "Doesn't explain Trixie's willingness to just go with it, though."

Linda gave a lift of her shoulder. "It could be something built up over time? Kind of a nature versus nurture thing. Kids may be more open. There's a lot of possibilities here."

"I guess....Doesn’t stop me from feeling like an idiot." Her phone buzzed and taking a quick glance Chloe snorted, holding it out for Linda to read as she took a languid drink from her bottle. Linda squinted a bit at the text bubble reading,

'Stated reason for time off?" She gave a disgusted groan. "Write back 'Personal.' He isn't required to know and you have the time. Right?"

"More than enough to cover the next week." She did as Linda told her again. 'Thank you, auto-correct.' She could have done it with enough concentration, but the wine was making it difficult for her fingers to be that precise right now and she did not want to put the effort in.

Linda went about opening her own bottle. "So you really are more upset about your ‘overlooking evidence’ than what the fact that Lucifer’s the devil? Don't get me wrong, this is fantastic. You just seem like you are taking it...well."

"The thing is Linda, my knowing doesn't change anything. I told him the same thing last night. A- He has been super up-front the entire time. Like ridiculously up-front." She frowned, "You might be right on the whole shield thing. He should have outed himself to the entire city by now with the way he goes on. B-he does not have the attention span for any sort of long game.” She hummed a bit, rethinking his ability to plan considering how old he actually is.

Chloe decided to rephrased her last thought. “I mean, it’s possible, but what would it get him? No, I think he is exactly how he presents himself. That is not someone I’m scared of. So long as you aren't hurting someone or taking their choices away."

Chloe continued on as Linda stayed quiet, "I always understood why that would get to him- it gets to me too. But now it ....it fits, you know? It probably helps that I never had any fear of Satan growing up anyway. I remember being little and hearing people yell about him in front of some of my mom's film sets. And all it did was confuse me. He is the one that keeps the bad guys from bothering the good, so how is that evil? That would be like the warden..." Chloe trailed off, her train of thought brushing too close to the realization of her father's murder.

"You are really doing well with all this, all things considered, Chloe. I know you don’t think so, but you are a great detective. Would it help if you did another investigation?” Linda brought her hands to stop her from answering right away, “Not a case per say, but information gathering so you can better understand him."

Chloe turned Linda's idea over in her mind. "I could do that....Though most sources on this are not what I would call reliable in a real investigation. Most are not even considered eyewitness accounts, just hearsay which is less than useless."

"I mean, you do have at least one star witness. Two if you wanted to talk to Amenadiel for the other side of this story?" Chloe's brow furrowed "Amena- right. Lucifer's brother. Who is an angel." Chloe stared as she took her bottle back off from the table for yet another deep pull. "Hey, Linda?"

"Yeah?"

"Our lives are weird." Both women shared laugh as they clinked their bottles in camaraderie.

"Hey, Chloe?"

"Hmm?" She had slipped herself down so that she was lying on her side cuddled up with one of the pillows strewn about her. The wine had taken its toll on her and the warmth in the tent was making her muscles relax. ‘ _Or is that because of the wine too?_ ’

“Hearing some of the stuff you said might be good for Lucifer for dealing with this on his end. If you do end up talking with him, make sure to tell him what you told me."

Chloe thought back (as best she could at the moment) to how scared he had seemed back in that little meeting room. "The plan was to talk with him this morning, but he left before I woke up. He was probably right, I needed time to process things, but I didn’t tell you anything I wouldn’t tell him." Linda smiled at her friend's arm waving a little close to her face before leaning away.

"Thanks for all this, Linda. I appreciate it. If I can ever help with anything for you, you let me know."

Linda reached for the top of the coffee table to pull the remote towards her as she answered her friend so close to asleep.

"Let's get you through this first. Then we can talk."

************************************************************

Settling herself in to have time to sober up, Linda considered her next conversation carefully as she settled back against the pillows. She had a much better idea of what she would be getting into with this compared to Chloe, not that it made her feel any better. Everything she had learned from her friend only served to worry her more.

The choices for conversation starters was taken out of her hands however as her phone dinged. **"How is she doing, Doctor?"** _‘Hello to you too, Lucifer.’_

Her eyes remained on the screen as she thought about how best to answer his question. **"She is handling it in a very Chloe-like manner."** She could practically see him brace himself, but knowing there was no way of talking about their discussion that would not set him on edge. She tried to wait patiently for the reply and gave an unprofessional snort once it came in. **"Has she already filed a restraining order then? Not that she needs one if she wishes me to avoid her."**

She sipped at the bottle of water she had gotten herself before answering. Self-deprecation was something she refused to help him with.

Especially with it being so very unwarranted in this case.

_‘A more blunt approach might do him good.’_ **"No, though I do think I managed to talk her out of changing careers. For right now at any rate."**

That got her a reaction. **"What on earth are you talking about? Why would the Detective not be detecting? Does she think I am going to crash the crime scenes she will be at?"** This is probably the best opening to get the two talking that she would ever get. A small smile in place, Linda texted him back as calmly as possible.

**“I am not going to tell you what we talked about, Lucifer. That’s between myself and Chloe. What I am going to suggest to you as your therapist is to not run from communication. Avoiding it is only going to hurt you both in the long run. From what I understand, Chloe has made it clear that she doesn't want you out of her life.”**

His barrage of texts after hers were filled with how her even considering a profession change was **"unacceptable,"** and **"utter nonsense."** _‘Even over text, his listening skills are nonexistent.’_ The last text he sent was the only one she acknowledged. **"...Is she at least somewhat functioning?"**

**"I think so. The way Chloe talked about it, I'm confident she is dealing as well as can be expected. Actually, better than expected. I am not going to tell you she won't ever freak out because that's going to happen. This is a lot for a person to take. It will be an adjustment period. But I think it's one she can deal with. I am going to repeat my suggestion though- you need to talk with her."**

He did not reply until she had almost finished her water. **"Thank you, Dr. Martin. I am glad that she was willing to speak with you."**

**"You are very welcome, Mr. Morningstar. I look forward to our next session."**

Linda gave herself a few more minutes before heading out to her car, not wanting to stick around for when Lucifer 'straightened out this nonsense about his detective not detecting.'


End file.
